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Comment by paulhauggis | Hacker News Reader

Most likely, the startup will go bust and you won't get anything. Even if it doesn't, I don't think they can possibly give you enough (unless it's Facebook or you are getting 50% of the company) which equates to months or years of your life that you can't ever get back.

My solution? Salary only and I take the salary and fund my own startup.

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I wouldn't go so far as demanding only salary because it kind of implies that you are certain that the startup will go bust rather than _might go bust_. However, I definitely prefer as competitive salary as possible; I don't know about the rest of the country but working long hours in SF gets expensive (apartments, eating out, laundry services etc).

Easy: Ask for too much salary and too much equity at the same time. When negotiating compromise just on equity.

Another issue is that it makes you a slave to the company. You don't want to leave because you want that equity. It's almost like continuing to gamble at a casino hoping for that next big payout.

A friend of mine wouldn't leave because he had equity..even when management sucked and it was a terrible place to work. The company didn't get their next round of VC funding and went out of business withing 8 months.

My problem is that it's too easy for the management of these companies to drive the company into the ground with terrible ideas..and you, as a minor stake-holder have absolutely no power to stop it.

I agree - that's how I tend to do it these days.

Most startups fail (and I've taken enough of the crappy deals to find this on my own), so I've become a skeptic, usually doing a better job of analyzing their ideas and connections. I end up charging my full rate (which to me is more valuable than the gamble of equity) and then using it as capital for my own projects.

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